Tagged With "adverse childhood experiences"
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How do these pediatricians do ACEs screening? Early adopters tell all.
Last week, three pediatricians — with a combined experience of 15 years integrating ACEs science into their practices — reflected on the urgency they felt several years ago that prompted them to begin screening patients for childhood adversity and resilience when there was practically no guidance at all. Along their journey , they accumulated a list of lessons learned for other pediatricians and family clinics to use. The three pediatricians participated in the ACEs Connection webinar,...
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How trauma-informed care promotes healing: Patient Narrative
So pleased that KevinMD published this patient narrative. I was encouraged to share it here as well! https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2...romotes-healing.html By MEGAN R. GERBER, MD | CONDITIONS | JULY 26, 2019 As physicians, we face the formidable task of working with patients who appear angry, never content with care or “made better” by anything we do. They may be known as “difficult,” unpleasant, or demanding. These patients are the most challenging and often the least rewarding to care for.
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Jones: Day 2: Soda, cigarettes and trauma: How Adverse Childhood Experiences alter brain chemistry, cultivate unhealthy habits and prompt premature death
Patients would carry soda into Dr. Gerard Clancy’s office, with cigarettes tucked away for after therapy. Often victims of abuse or violent crime, they would seek soothing but risky behaviors to cope. Overweight. Chronic pain. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Type II diabetes. His former patients will die younger than they should, he said. Clancy conducted therapy sessions until he became president of the University of Tulsa in 2016. At his psychiatry clinic, he saw firsthand how a...
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Moving Upstream to Address Contributors to Toxic Stress in Pediatric Primary Care [chapinhall.org]
By Angeline Spain, Angela Sander, and Amanda Brown, Chapin Hall at The University of Chicago, October 2019 Healthcare in the U.S. is increasingly moving “upstream” to address the risk of social determinants of health. One common strategy is the early screening of needs and connection to services. Chapin Hall, in collaboration with national and local partners, is conducting an evaluation of innovations designed to promote screening for contributors to toxic stress during pediatric well-child...
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My son was hospitalized and now he has PTSD
“Grant, do you remember when you were in the hospital?” “Yes… they came to take the blood and I turned into a werewolf.” Original Post It happened quickly. A year ago my three year old had a collarbone fracture, it became infected and within 24 hours the situation was emergent. A week long hospital stay, one month with a PICC line and two months on oral antibiotics. Finally, the labs finally came back normal. The X-Ray was clean. Gillette Children’s Hospital closed our case. But the healing...
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New Study Reveals Annual Cost of Childhood Adversity in California Is Approximately $113 Billion [prnewswire.com]
SAN FRANCISCO , Jan. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ The Center for Youth Wellness announces the release of an in-depth study on the health-related cost of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in the state of California . A number of studies have investigated the cost of child maltreatment, but the current study, entitled " Adult health burden and costs in California during 2013 associated with prior adverse childhood experiences ," is the first to examine the cost associated with adult health...
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NPPC shares lessons learned and results from ACEs screening pilot sites
For Dr. Mercie Digangi, a pediatrician at Kaiser Southern California in Downey, CA, ACEs screening provided a crystal clear before-and-after in how she changed treatment plans for her pediatric patients, she explained to attendees of a December 2 webinar organized by the National Pediatric Practice Community on ACEs (NPPC) and cosponsored by ACEs Connection. Dr. Mercie Digangi One case that turned ACEs screening into a never-go-back moment for her was a three-year-old who was speech-delayed.
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Nurturing relationships in childhood boost adult mental health, relationships
We're proud to announce major research that suggests that positive childhood experiences — such as supportive family interactions, caring relationships with friends, and connections in the community — are associated with reductions in chances of adult depression and poor mental health, and increases in the chances of having healthy relationships in adulthood. This association was true even among those with a history of adverse childhood experiences.
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ACEs Research Corner — May 2020
[Editor's note: Dr. Harise Stein at Stanford University edits a web site -- abuseresearch.info -- that focuses on the health effects of abuse, and includes research articles on ACEs. Every month, she's posting the summaries of the abstracts and links to research articles that address only ACEs. Thank you, Harise!! -- Jane Stevens] Williams AB, Smith ER, Trujillo MA, et. al. Common health problems in safety-net primary care: Modeling the roles of trauma history and mental health. J Clin...
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Forsyth County Trauma Informed Care Network
The Forsyth County Trauma Informed Network is taking great strides into recognizing and addressing community post Covid-19 impacts. PowerPoint attached.
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Experience of emergency department use among persons with a history of adverse childhood experiences [bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com]
By Eva Purkey, Colleen Davison, Meredith MacKenzie, et al., BMC Health Services Research, May 24, 2020 Background Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with increased morbidity and mortality, lower levels of distress tolerance, and greater emotional dysregulation, as well as with increased healthcare utilization. All these factors may lead to an increased use of emergency department (ED) services. Understanding the experience of ED utilization among a group of ED users with...
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"Addiction begins with solving a problem, the problem of human pain, emotional pain"
In his groundbreaking book , In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction , trauma and addiction expert Dr. Gabor Maté writes, “There are almost as many addictions as there are people.” ACEs Connection founder and publisher Jane Stevens read that quote as a springboard to asking Maté to define addiction and explain whether or not it is always rooted in adverse childhood experiences. Maté, along with filmmaker Michelle Esrick and Saturday Night Live star Darrell Hammond,...
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What Do We Do? What Do We Do Now?
People’s response to the great chasms of structural inequities glaringly laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic have been further inflamed by the murder of George Floyd and deaths of other African Americans in recent weeks. The acute emergency of the pandemic has eased, but the violence inflicted on racial minorities and now those who are protesting the inequities in our society has compounded the outrage. Right after the pandemic began running riot across the US, I often heard people ask: When...
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Re: North American Libraries Send Strong Message of Inclusion, Commitment to Racial and Social Equity, to Their Communities (Urban Library Council)
Hello, I'm wondering about the Library "inclusion" statement ... is this the same organization that espouses Drag Queen Story Hour at Public libraries across the country and catches National headlines like, "Sex Offender Busted as Drag Queen Who Read Books To Children in City Library" ? See linked article below. https://www.newsweek.com/sex-o...city-library-1365384 I'm really concerned if *ACEs Connection* really understands the idea of what childhood sexual assault is, and how that plays a...
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Re: North American Libraries Send Strong Message of Inclusion, Commitment to Racial and Social Equity, to Their Communities (Urban Library Council)
Hi Ann, Thank you for sharing your concern. Most of us at ACEs Connection are personally and/or professionally aware of the impact of childhood sexual assault. In the story you hyperlinked, it appears that the library acknowledged that they failed to follow their protocol for background checks. Please know this statement (found at the hyperlink in the original story) is from the Urban Libraries Council's statement on Race and Social Equity: In a strong act of commitment to a more equitable...
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Racism's Effect on Health, and the Heartbreak of Being a Black Parent Right Now: California's Surgeon General Speaks [kqed.org]
By KQED Science, KQED, June 14, 2020 The coronavirus pandemic and the recent killing of George Floyd have brought longstanding racial inequities into sharp focus. One of those disparities concerns the high rate of coronavirus transmission among people of color. To talk about the intersection of race and health, KQED's Brian Watt spoke last week with California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, who is known for her pioneering work on the role that childhood stress and trauma play on...
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THURSDAY!! Cracked Up, The Evolving Conversation: Generational Trauma - Breaking the Cycle [crackedupmovie.com]
CRACKED UP THE EVOLVING CONVERSATION Episode 4: Generational Trauma - Breaking the Cycle with Darrell Hammond, Comedian, actor, SNL Legend Michelle Esrick, Filmmaker, activist Bessel van der Kolk, MD, Author of The Body Keeps the Score Jane Stevens, Founder of ACES Connection and special guest Jane Fonda Academy Award-winning actor, producer, author and activist Thursday June 25th at 1pm PDT / 2p MT / 3p CT / 4pm EDT Hosted by ACEs Connection THE PRICE OF THIS LIVE EVENT IS $12.50 We have...
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ACEs screening is about building relationships, says early adopter
Whether or not to screen for ACEs in primary care is an important debate—and I hear and respect the passion from both sides of the argument. I fall in the “pro-ACE assessments” camp, but with some important caveats. I think that assessments for ACEs are dramatically different from screening for autism or developmental delays. In my opinion, assessments for ACEs in primary care should be primarily about building relationships.
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Linda Grabbe: Helping her communities develop resilience through the Community Resilience Model
Grabbe searched for models that would help her homeless and addicted patients. “There are good body-based models for psychotherapy, which may be the most effective approach for trauma,” she says, “but hardly any of my patients were receiving any kind of therapy. There are thousands of people in our communities who have high ACE scores who will never get the years of psychotherapy they deserve. CRM is a self-mental wellness care tool and is exquisitely trauma-sensitive—so it can help enormously.”
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Childhood Physical Neglect Is Associated With Exaggerated Systemic and Intracellular Inflammatory Responses to Repeated Psychosocial Stress in Adulthood (PMC)
By Hannah M. C. Schreier, Yuliya I. Kuras, [...], and Nicolas Rohleder Abstract Experiences of child maltreatment are associated with a host of adverse mental and physical health outcomes in adulthood. Altered reactivity to psychosocial stress exposure may partially explain known associations between early experiences of maltreatment and later life health. The present study focuses on examining whether experiences of child maltreatment are associated with physiological reactions to initial...
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Adverse Childhood Experiences Are Associated With Childhood-Onset Arthritis in a National Sample of US Youth: An Analysis of the 2016 National Survey of Children's Health (Journal of Peds)
Tamar B Rubinstein et al. J Pediatr . 2020 . Abstract Objectives: To determine whether there is an association between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and childhood-onset arthritis, comparing youth with arthritis to both healthy youth and youth with other acquired chronic physical diseases (OCPD); and to examine whether ACEs are associated with disease-related characteristics among children with arthritis. Study design: In a cross-sectional analysis of data from the 2016 National Survey...
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Resilient Georgia and Georgia Public Broadcasting present "Mental Fitness for Resilience" Second Panel - The Trauma of Racism
Resilient Georgia recently presented a roundtable discussion, featuring a distinguished panel of professionals, on the trauma associated with racism and racial discrimination, as part of the Mental Fitness for Resilience Campaign. The distinguished panel for this Georgia Public Broadcasting production included Dr. Patrice Harris, MD, MA, psychiatrist and the first African-American woman to be elected president of the American Medical Association; Dr. Terri McFadden, a General Pediatrician...
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Reimagining Healthcare as a Community Investment
At this point, COVID-19 has been a part of our lives for nearly six months now. While the most recent current events are not unfamiliar social problems, this pandemic has provided us with a stronger lens with which to see many of the underlying inequities within our communities. This article, “The Moral Determinants of Health,” explores these inequities by illustrating the systemic imbalances within the field of medicine and the amount of resources we allocate to solving problems as opposed...
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Help Navigating the Road to Community Resiliency
The first time I ever heard the words trauma-informed care and the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study was in the summer of 2014. At the time, I was working for the local Police Department as the Director of a grant-funded Crime Reduction Project aimed at reducing drug-related and violent crime. Of the many program goals, one was to develop a rehabilitative corrections program for felony offenders with addictions in order to reduce recidivism. Though I’ve lived in this region for...
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Do safe, stable, and nurturing relationships work? New research has important findings for responding to ACEs
While we know that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can cause risk behaviors, research has told us that the presence of protective factors can help mitigate the effects of ACEs. Common risk behaviors such as smoking tobacco and alcohol misuse can be a result from the trauma of childhood disadvantage. In responding to ACEs, public health research proposes that protective factors such as safe, stable, nurturing relationships (SSNRs) with a caring adult can mitigate the long-term effects of...
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Adverse childhood experiences and decreased renal function: Impact on all- cause mortality in US adults (mdlinx.com)
By Ozie MN, Garacci E, Campbell JA, et al American Journal of Preventive Medicine | July 20, 2020. Via performing longitudinal survey of adults, researchers investigated how coexistence of adverse childhood experiences and reduced renal function (an estimated glomerular filtration rate < 60 milliliter/minute/1.73 m 2 ) affects all-cause mortality in a sample of U.S. adults. They analyzed data from a total of 1,205 adults participating in the Midlife Development in the United States series...
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ACEs and Gynecological Problems - A Conversation Starter
Gynecological problems as a result of ACEs, and particularly of Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA), are rarely discussed in books and articles about the ACEs. The author would like to see that issue become part of the ACEs conversation.
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Donald Trump is the product of abuse and neglect. His story is common, even for the powerful and wealthy.
“In order to cope,” writes Mary Trump, “Donald began to develop powerful but primitive defenses, marked by an increasing hostility to others and a seeming indifference to his mother’s absence and father’s neglect….In place of [his emotional needs] grew a kind of grievance and behaviors—including bullying, disrespect, and aggressiveness—that served their purpose in the moment but became more problematic over time. With appropriate care and attention, they might have been overcome.”
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Baby courts: A proven approach to stop the multigenerational transmission of ACES in child welfare; new efforts to establish courts nationwide
The organization Zero To Three estimates that in the U.S., a child is taken into the child welfare system every six seconds. “Many of society’s most intractable problems can be traced back to childhood adversity. Being in the child welfare system increases the likelihood of more adversity and criminality. Baby court is a proven approach to healing the trauma of both child and parent, and breaking the cycle of maltreatment,” says Mimi Graham, Ed.D ., director of the Florida State University...
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Trauma informed pain treatment
A patient-centered approach to opioid tapers must account for the reality that many people who are given a prescription for an opioid to treat pain have significant mental health conditions—for which opioids act as a psychotropic agent. An opioid taper must therefore address psychological trauma, in particular.
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Does VP Candidate Kamala Harris know about ACEs? You bet!
Nadine Burke Harris, California’s Surgeon General, has a lot in common with the vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris—Jamaican heritage, surname, home state—and a commitment to addressing ACEs and toxic stress. As reported in the New Yorker article by Paul Tough, “The Poverty Clinic,” Dr. Harris told Kamala Harris, then San Francisco district attorney, about ACEs in 2008 and in response, she offered to help. District Attorney Harris then introduced her to professor of child and...
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NIHB Launches Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) Hub
The National Indian Health Board, in collaboration with CDC, has launched a new resource hub! Many Tribal individuals, families, and communities have been impacted by childhood experiences causing physical and mental health adversities throughout the lifespan. However, with understanding and effort, individuals and communities can confront Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) for positive health outcomes. This information hub, launched by the National Indian Health Board includes a "resource...
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New ACEs initiatives learn about strategic plan development from from New Hanover (NC) Resiliency Task Force executive director Mebane Boyd
The desire to see other ACEs initiatives grow and flourish was evident at a recent meeting of the Resilient Columbus County (North Carolina) ACEs initiative when Mebane Boyd, executive director of the New Hanover Resiliency Task Force (also in North Carolina), shared with the Columbus County and neighboring Pender County groups how New Hanover created and works on its strategic plan. In the spirit of sharing, Boyd agreed to let ACEs Connection post the strategic plan and the video of the...
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Researchers discover a specific brain circuit damaged by social isolation during childhood (Science Direct)
August 31, 2020, The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Study in mice shows long-lasting effects and points the way to potential treatments Summary: Researchers have identified specific sub-populations of brain cells in the prefrontal cortex, a key part of the brain that regulates social behavior, that are required for normal sociability in adulthood and are profoundly vulnerable to juvenile social isolation in mice. [ Please click here to read more. ]
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ACEs Aware Seeking Applicants to Support Clinical Work [acesaware.org]
ACEs Aware Seeking Applicants to Support Clinical Work Apply by September 15, 2020 ACEs Aware , led by the Office of the California Surgeon General (CA-OSG) and the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), is hiring for three new positions to further the mission of supporting Medi-Cal providers across California with training, clinical protocols, and payment for screening children and adults for Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Aurrera Health Group is the project management...
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Introducing ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and Resilience to First-Year Medical Students [mededportal.org]
By Edore Onigu-Otite, Sindhu Idicula, MedEdPORTAL, September 15, 2020 Abstract Introduction: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with negative mental and physical health outcomes and predictive of higher sociodemographic risk. Introducing ACEs into undergraduate medical education is key to prevention, early recognition, and intervention. Methods: In a 1-hour lecture, held live and viewed online, we delivered a condensed introduction to ACEs to first-year medical students.
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Addiction Born Out of ACEs and The Return of Hope [avahealth.org]
The downstream effect of childhood trauma has been well documented regarding the biological and psychosocial impacts. This presentation will highlight the neurobiological changes associated with ACEs that function as a "primer" for the onset of addiction and related behaviors. It will conclude with principles for influencing these same pathways that assist with restoration of the mind and health downstream effect of childhood trauma has been well documented regarding the biological and...
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RSVP now! FREE Learning opportunity for CA healthcare providers: Oct 1, 2020 at noon PST
RSVP now for a presentation by Susie Wiet, MD who is an integrative developmental psychiatrist with expertise in holistic treatment of trauma-addiction, dual diagnosis, and complex psychiatric disorders. Target Audience T his activity is intended for CALIFORNIA physicians, physician assistants, registered nurses, nurse practitioners, psychologists and social workers engaged in the care of patients who have experienced violence or trauma. Educational Objectives After completing these...
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Addressing Childhood Poverty in Pediatric Clinical Settings [jamanetwork.com]
By Margaret G. Parker, Arvin Garg, Margaret A. McConnell, JAMA Pediatrics, September 14, 2020 Two in 5 children are poor or nearly poor, and childhood poverty is a key social determinant of heath that is associated with negative health and developmental outcomes across the life course. In 2016, the American Academy of Pediatrics published a policy statement on child poverty and health, emphasizing the importance of addressing poverty-related risk factors in the delivery of pediatric care.1...
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Free 2020 Virtual Trauma-Informed Care Conference
Each year, STAR hosts a Trauma-Informed Care Conference to help educate the next generation of leaders and build a strong network of Trauma-Informed professionals in the state of Georgia. The conference will be held on Saturday, October 3rd from 10:00am- 1:00pm EST and Sunday, October 4th , 2020 from 2:00pm-5:00pm EST conducted virtually via Zoom.
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Implementing the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics in Tennessee: Parent and Clinician Perspectives (Child Wefare)
Child Welfare publication, Child Trends, September 25, 2020. The QIC-AG is a five-year project working with eight sites that implemented evidence-based interventions or developed and tested promising practices which, if proven effective, can be replicated or adapted in other child welfare jurisdictions. Effective interventions are expected to achieve long-term, stable permanence in adoptive and guardianship homes for waiting children as well as children and families after adoption or...
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Synergistic adversities and behavioral problems in traumatized children and adolescents (Child Abuse & Neglect)
By Frank W. Putnam a Ernestine C. Briggs b https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104492 . Abstract Objective This study investigated synergy of commonly co-occurring pairs of childhood traumas/adversities to determine: 1) if synergistic pairings differ by gender and/or age grouping; and 2) if some traumas/adversities were more synergistically reactive. Methods A sample of 10,355 clinic-referred youth (1.5–18 years) from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network Core Data Set was divided by...
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'A Better Normal:' Can universal ACEs screening be equitable? -- Concerns and solutions
Can universal ACEs screening be equitable? A conversation about concerns and solutions. When: Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2-3:30 pm PDT/5-6:30 pm EDT This webinar explores what it takes to ensure that equity is built into the process of screening and providing support for families who have experienced trauma and want help. REGISTER HERE Background At the beginning of this year, California, through the ACEs Aware initiative began rolling out universal screening for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs),...
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NOW AVAILABLE ON DEMAND: The Repressed Role of Adverse Childhood Experiences in Adult Well-Being, Disease and Social Functioning: Turning Gold into Lead (Dr. Vincent J. Felitti) [avahealth.org]
The ACE Study reveals how typically unrecognized adverse childhood experiences are not only common, but causally underlie a number of the most common causes of adult social malfunction, biomedical disease, and premature death. Moreover, it enables one to see that the Public Health Problem is often an individual’s attempted Solution to childhood experiences about which we keep ourselves unaware. A renowned physician and researcher, Dr. Vincent J. Felitti is one of the world’s foremost experts...
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Hope and Progress, No Matter What! — an ACEs Connection/Cambia Health Foundation “Better Normal”, Oct. 22, 2020
The election is upon us. In two short weeks, we voters in this country decide who will lead us for the next four years. We have the opportunity to embrace — as a national priority — the tenets of understanding, nurturing and healing that underlie the science of adverse childhood experiences and move in a direction that embraces cultural and racial equity and anti-racism. Or not.
What is clear is that no matter what, the ACEs movement will continue.
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New Resource: Coping with Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic One-Pager (English & Spanish!)
English: The California Department of Public Health, Injury and Prevention Branch (CDPH/IVPB) and the California Department of Social Service, Office of Child Abuse Prevention’s (CDSS/OCAP) , Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative , ACEs Connection , and the Yolo County Children’s Alliance have co-created a newly developed resource, “Coping with Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic” in both English and Spanish. This material is intended for Californian families experiencing the severe...
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Adverse Childhood Experiences and Decreased Renal Function: Impact on All-Cause Mortality in U.S. Adults (AJPM)
Mukoso N. Ozieh, MD, MSCR, Emma Garacci, MS, Jennifer A. Campbell, MPH, Rebekah J. Walker, PhD, Leonard E. Egede, MD, MS. RESEARCH ARTICLE | VOLUME 59, ISSUE 2 , E49-E57, AUGUST 01, 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2020.04.005 Introduction Evidence suggests that individuals with a history of adverse childhood experiences have higher odds of developing kidney disease than individuals with no adverse childhood experiences. However, no study has examined the influence of coexisting...
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"A Better Normal" Community Discussion: Suicide Awareness and Community Cafes
Join us on Friday November 6, 2020 from noon to 1:00 PST as we come together and join Satya Chandragiri MD, Bonnie O’Hern RN, Denise Proudfoot RN, & Michael Polacek RN for a discussion around the tender issue of suicide. Together we will discuss ways people and providers can support each other and encourage communities to take action to support one another around suicide prevention, crisis intervention, and the layers of culture and structural barriers to care. A special emphasis will be...
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Three-nation research to examine relationships between social factors and epigenetics (Eurekalert)
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, November 9, 2020, Grant Announcement . $2.9 million National Institute on Aging grant to USC's Eileen Crimmins supports collaboration of large studies in US, Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to answer questions about how life circumstances affect gene expression and health. A new three-nation project will examine how social, economic, psychological, environmental and behavioral circumstances in childhood influence gene expression and affect health...
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The Pandemic Is Raging. Here's How to Support Your Grieving Students [edweek.org]
By Brittany R. Collins, Education Week, November 12, 2020 Over the past few decades, trauma-informed teaching has gained ground in the United States, yet rarely is grief included in the conversation. In the midst of a global pandemic, with teachers and students confronting loss in and outside the classroom in new and myriad ways, it is more critical than ever to apply a grief-sensitive lens to our conversations about curricula and trauma in the school system. We are not the people we were a...